Saturday, August 17, 2013

No less than three records have been made over the past three month here in Portugal, with the most recent one in the Algarve and only a few days ago. Kelp Gull is a widespread breeding bird along the coasts of the southern hemisphere, such as Southern Africa, but had been only reported seven times in the WP before (France, 1995, followed by records from Marocco and the Canary Islands). Its likely to be overlooked, due to its similarity to Greater- (or even Lesser-) Black-backed Gull (Kelp Gull is also called "Southern Black-backed Gull" occasionally). The status in the north Atlantic seems unclear.